


we all need someone who knows

by ailixandrite2dot0 (AILiSeki)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Dimension Travel, Gen, Self-Indulgent, fic of a fic, who can understand your issues better than your own alternate selves?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23331079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AILiSeki/pseuds/ailixandrite2dot0
Summary: The three Stevens from my role-swap AUs met and find out what they have in common.
Relationships: Steven Universe & Steven Universe
Kudos: 20





	we all need someone who knows

**Author's Note:**

> So my random ficlet ideas generator gave me a prompt for Indigo!Steven and Rose Moms!Steven and instead of writing it, this happened. I have seen a bunch of super cool comics and art of alternate Stevens together. I can't art, but I can write, so here I am. I am not sure this will be cool to anyone else except for me but that never stopped me before.
> 
> I was going to have each boy come from a different point in the timeline but that got too complicated, so instead, they are all from some point after the trial arc or its equivalent and before the Big Reveal about their respective mother. This is in no way canon to any of the AUs by the way.
> 
> [Indigo AU](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637512)   
>  [Rose Moms AU](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670725)   
>  [Crystal Authority/Diamond Rebellion AU](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1676866)

There was no warning. One moment Steven was sitting alone on the beach, reflecting on recent happenings, the other _they_ were there. He now was sitting across two boys who looked a lot like him, except they were white. One of them was even dressed like him: a red t-shirt with a yellow star, jeans… but his flip-flops were pink instead of blue. The other boy was dressed similarly, except instead of a yellow star he had on his t-shirt the black outline of a diamond shape.

The two boys were almost identical to each other, but looking closely Steven noticed that the diamond boy had a skin tone that was more… pink than the other.

“Who are you?” Steven asked, frowning.

“I’m Steven!” The two boys said at exactly the same time in identical voices. They frowned at each other.

“I’m Steven too,” Steven said. He put his hand on his chin, thoughtful.

The Steven with a star t-shirt crossed his arms in thought, while the Steven with a diamond t-shirt put his hands on his waist. It was the star Steven who first had a guess.

“This seems like a typical inter-dimensional travel scenario.”

“Like Connie said…” Diamond Steven agreed.

“You know Connie?” Steven asked.

“You know her too!” Star Steven said.

“Inter-dimensional travel scenario,” Steven concluded.

“Definitely.” Diamond Steven agreed. “Now whose dimension is this?”

All three Stevens looked up at the temple.

“That’s not my temple.” Star Steven said.

“Not mine either.” Diamond Steven said.

“It’s mine,” Steven said, standing up and making a sigh for the boys to follow him. He noticed the way the two of them looked at the gem on his hand.

He walked to his house, followed by his counterparts. The three settled on the couches to discuss what was going on.

“Uh, where are your gems?” Steven asked, raising his hands to show his own. He guessed if they lived in the temple they were part gem too… unless they were something even cooler!

Both other Stevens gasped.

“You have _two_ gems?!” Said Diamond Steven.

“Are you a fusion?” Star Steven asked.

Steven shrugged. “Mom was.” He looked up at the portrait of Garnet, that watched over him with her three eyes all the time.

“Is that your Mom?” Star Steven asked, following his gaze.

Steven nodded. “Her name was Garnet. She was the fusion of Ruby and Sapphire.” He saw no familiarity in the boys' faces at each of the names. “Who is your Mom?” He asked, assuming the two of them had the same mother, considering how alike they looked.

Star Steven, who was sitting closest to Steven, spoke first.

“My mother was Star. She was a Rose Quartz.” He raised his t-shirt to show the round pink gem on his belly.

Diamond Steven fell off the couch in shock. His face was pale. “R-rose Quartz?!”

“Do you know any Rose Quartz?” Star Steven asked.

“Not exactly…” Diamond Steven said, looking away. “But I heard of one. She was a pretty big deal.”

“Mom was a pretty big deal.” Star Steven said, looking sad for a moment. “She led the rebellion!” He added, getting cheerful again.

“Mom led the rebellion here!” Steven said, smiling at the coincidence.

They looked at Diamond Steven. “Mom… co-led the rebellion?” He said, standing up. “She was Pink Diamond.” He raised his t-shirt to show the pentagonal pink gem.

It was Star Steven’s turn to grow pale.

“Pink Diamond?!” Steven exclaimed in shock. Noticing the sad look on Diamond Steven (what a proper nickname, huh), he added. “Cool. Your Mom was a Diamond. You must be super powerful.”

Steven didn’t have funny memories of Pink Diamond, but he knew what it was like to have everyone look at you and only see your Mom, and he was not about to do that to a fellow Steven.

Diamond Steven looked at him confused.

“Can you do that thing where you control everyone’s emotions?” Steven couldn’t help but ask. That was the ability he knew of Pink Diamond that scared him the most.

“Like when Blue Diamond makes everyone cry?” Star Steven asked.

“There is a Blue Diamond?!” Steven asked in shock. He only knew of Pink and Yellow. And Indigo.

“Yeah.” Diamond Steven said. “And White and Yellow.”

“Indigo?” Steven asked.

“I’ve never met this one.” Diamond Steven said.

“Me neither,” Steven said. “I only heard of her.”

“Wait, so in your world, Pink Diamond was a rebel?” Star Steven asked.

“Yeah.” Diamond Steven answered.

“Was she one of the leaders of Homeworld too?” Star Steven asked.

“Leader? Like the Crystal Authority?”

“Crystal… Authority?” Steven asked, confused.

“Yeah. Their symbol is like… a four-pointed star and they are super creepy.” Diamond Steven explained.

“In my world, Homeworld is governed by the Diamond Authority,” Steven said. Star Steven nodded.

“Diamonds leading Homeworld?” Diamond Steven chuckled. “That’s hard to imagine.”

Steven found himself chuckling as well. “Our worlds are really very different. I wonder why we are meeting right now.”

The three assumed their thoughtful positions again.

“Since we are in your world,” Star Steven said, looking at Steven. “Maybe it has to do with you. What is going on right now?”

Diamond Steven also turned at him, interested.

“You know, the same as always,” Steven said. “Gems keep coming from Homeworld thinking I’m Mom and trying to kill me. I still can’t cure corruption fully. I am not sure of what is my big magical destiny, or if I even have one.”

Both Stevens nodded, and Steven could see in their eyes an understanding he never saw anywhere else. It encouraged him.

“I mean, I have no idea of how Mom did all the things she did. I only have a few of her powers, and I am still learning how to control them. I have always wanted to be like her but I am not sure anymore, after learning of what she did during the war. I know it was a war, and I know why it had to happen but it still feels wrong. Was there really no other way? I don’t even know how to _feel_ about her, with all the lies she told. And I have no one to talk about it, because no one has any idea of how it feels to be technically your Mom who is an alien war criminal!”

At some point during his rant, Steven started crying. These words were all stuck in his throat and they had been there for too long. He would never let himself get carried away like this with the gems or his Dad or even his friends. He was ready to apologize, but he looked at his fellow Stevens and saw nothing but understanding.

“I know how it feels.” Diamond Steven said.

“I know it too.” Star Steven said.

Steven sighed, his lips curling up just a bit. If anyone in the Universe could understand him, it was these guys.

“The Diamonds always say I don’t have to carry this burden alone.” Diamond Steven said. “But they were around when it happened! They made this choice! I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t even have a say in anything Mom did. But when other gems look at me, they only see what she did and it… it is awful.”

“I know, right?” Star Steven agreed. “The gems always say I just shouldn’t think too much about what she did, but I have her gem! That’s like her whole… everything that made her _her_! And now she is a part of me! I can’t just ignore who she was and what she did when it’s all a part of me!” He sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if everyone wouldn’t rather she was here instead of me.” He voiced one of the darkest thoughts not only on his mind, but on all Stevens'.

Steven was crying harder, each word his counterparts said sounding like it could be his too. “We’re not that different, huh?”

Diamond Steven, who was also crying, chuckled a bit despite himself.

“I guess it comes with being the half-human son of a gem war criminal.” Star Steven said.

“It comes with being a Steven.” Diamond Steven said.

Steven chuckled too. He stood up, and his counterparts seemed to have the same idea as they too stood up.

“It’s nice meeting you guys. I never tell anyone these things because I don’t think they would understand, but you guys do!” Steven said. “I wished I had met you sooner.”

“How many other Stevens do you think there are out there, feeling the same way we do?” Star Steven.

“Probably like a billion!” Diamond Steven. “We are lucky to have met each other.”

The three boys walked towards each other and jumped into a group hug. They all cried, but they were happy to know each other.

Steven closed his eyes. One moment he held his counterparts, the next he was alone. He was sad they had to leave so soon, but he felt like a small bit of the heavy burden he carried was lifted.

**Author's Note:**

> My big inspiration for this was actually a talk I had with my sister about the most recent episodes and about how one of the (small) factors that makes Steven's teenage crisis worse for him is that there's literally no one like him (but then again isn't this how we all feel when we have our teenage crisis?).


End file.
